Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Dual timelines is my absolute favorite read so I was all in from page one. I loved both timelines and stories, the characters were well developed, and I enjoyed reading this book.

Have I stumbled upon my favourite book of the year a week into it?
What a read! As banal as it sounds, I don't have words good enough to explain it. A perfect book, to me, at least. There is nothing more I could ask of it. A beautiful writing style, a captivating plot, unique characters and important themes... Wow!

I received this as an ARC from netgalley.com

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the difference of the settings of the two time periods and locations - Australia in the 1980's and NYC in the 1920's.
The characters were well developed and it was an interesting premise for the story.

I loved the mystery aspect of it also and how it kept you guessing until almost the end.

Told in two timelines this book reflects the crafting of stories and of reflecting lives.  Love this book!

Piece by Piece the Fragments make a Whole or do they? 


Thank you to the author, Toni Jordan, the publisher, Text Publishing, and to Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I have to be honest the cover is what pulled me into this book but the cover is not why I stayed. The Fragments was a slight departure from what I am normally reading. I love my mystery but the historical aspects of this are not my cup of tea. That being said this read so much like the DaVinci Code that it made it enjoyable. The book is essentially about a sequel to a bestselling book which was destroyed when the author died in a warehouse fire. Caddie sets off on a quest to solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago and if a copy of the book has actually survived. The book bounces between present day perspective of Caddie and the past of Rachel – a lady cloaked in mystery as to her identity and relationship to the case.  I loved how the chapters alternated and gave good descriptions of the past and found it somewhat predictable by the end. Overall a three-star rating from me with the hopes that the next book is more interesting.

One thing I love is a book about books and this one worked so well! I liked the different timelines and how it made the mystery unfold in a slow burn kind of way, it kept me hooked until the end. There was a good mix of both funny and sad moments and I can definitely say it is a beautifully written book with bibliophiles in mind.

Thank you to the author, Toni Jordan, the publisher, Text Publishing, and to Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review. 

I really enjoyed this book.  It is the story of the Quintessential Novel for All Ages that is penned by an author to worldwide acclaim.   The author tragically dies just before her next even more heralded epic is published.....and all copies of the novel burn in the fire along with her.

All that is saved.....are a few fragments.     A young Australian woman goes to see the fragments on display....and meets a mysterious woman who seems to have first hand knowledge of the second novel---more than has ever been known.   Who is she?   What does she know?   Does she know who caused the fire? and could she have some knowledge of the book?

I thought it a fascinating, interesting story, which flips back an forth between the 1930's and the 1970's.  I would read more from this author.

The Fragments is an interesting book, slightly Da Vinci Code in style about a sequel to a best selling book which was destroyed when the author died in a warehouse fire. Caddie sets off on a quest to solve the mystery of what happened all those years ago and if a copy of the book has actually survived. The book bounces between present day perspective of Caddie and the past of Rachel – a lady shrouded in mystery as to her identity and relationship to the case.

On one hand I really like the split perspective and thought they were well balanced. I did however find the plot slow to start and to be honest, looking back on the story nothing really happens throughout. I found Caddie’s character to be annoying – her obsession over Philip and the choices she makes for him just made her seem unrelatable and I lost respect for her quickly. There are also some really weak links in the story – the beginning of the story seemed like such a throwaway, I don’t believe Caddie would have spent so much time researching something from just a line that sounds like it could have been from a book she’d never read. There are also some cliché moments where a side character just says something random with no relevance to the case that magically solves a clue.

Overall The Fragments is a pretty weak mystery – you would think an author with time would be able to craft a really well written and intriguing plot with clues that fit together rather than tangible links that don’t really make sense. Thank you to NetGalley & Text Publishing Company for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this was downright amazing!!!!  i didn’t expect to love this because books like this often my cup of tea but i really loved the characters

4★
“Caddie has worked for Christine on and off since she was fifteen. Back then, Christine was over seventy. Now that Caddie is older, Christine is about fifty.”

And isn't that just how we think at that age? :)

Brisbane, 1986, and Caddie’s still working in Christine’s bookshop, treading water, marking time, and for what? Always a booklover, she’s particularly besotted with one with a character “Cadence”, for whom she was named. It’s as if she were named “Scout” because her parents loved To Kill a Mockingbird, but Caddie’s father loved “All Has An End” by Inga Karlson and used to read it to her. Her father died a few years earlier, so now she reads it herself, every year, at least once.

“All Has An End” was the only book Karlson published before she was killed in a fire that took all the first copies of her second novel, “The Days, The Minutes”. At least that’s what’s left at the top of one of the burned scraps of paper, known as The Fragments, which were found after the fire. These tiny remains are making the rounds of museums, and at last, they are in Brisbane, where Caddie and long queues of Karlson fans wait in the tropical heat of a Brisbane summer.

“Caddie can see the fragments, and seeing them makes her long for her father in a way she hasn’t for years, an ache that spreads up her side and finishes behind her sternum, which is a bone she knows to be smooth in other people’s chests but imagines laced with steely holes like a box grater in her own.”

New York, 1938, Rachel Lehrer is a young waitress in Schrafft’s, trying desperately to make her way on her own after a troubled upbringing in Pennsylvania. She loved life on their family farm, but when she was about 10, her father moved them to a factory town. She was another little girl who grew up with a book always under her arm and a father she adored – until the move when he became bitter. Her mother never accepted the change in status.

“‘We’re not really factory people.’
‘We’re factory people now,’ Walter says.
Mary reaches over to flatten the curl in Rachel’s collar. ‘Your father’s people owned land in this valley. You keep yourself nice, better things will come.’

Walter stands, an eruption of force, and his chair tips over to the floor behind him. Snorts once through his nose. Picks up his plate scraped clean and hurls it at the wall.
George yelps. The plate has broken into three. The divot and crumbled plaster fall like snow.
‘That’s what we are now,’ he says. ‘Factory people. One more word, Mary. One more, so help me.’
He collects his coat and is out the door.”

Rachel crosses paths with Inga Karlson and the New York celebrity scene, their tender relationship forming half of the book. Alternating chapters are Caddie’s story and her obsession with The Fragments, the mythical second Karlson novel.

Both timelines are convincing and interesting. When it began, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it, but I gradually got caught up in both worlds, Caddie’s and Rachel’s, and their very different stories.

Jordan certainly knows the tropical heat and damp and general stickiness that is a Brisbane summer. It is the kind of weather that permeates everything you do, much the way living in snow country affects your day-to-day life. In this heat, though, you also get hail.

“Caddie wakes in the early hours, sweating and tangled in sheet, to the sound of hail pounding the corrugated-iron roof. These heavy summer storms are common in Brisbane but more usual in the afternoon. You glance out the window to find the air suspiciously still. If you drive anywhere with any regularity, to an office or a factory or school, you carry with you a mental map of all the undercover parking places along your route: bridges, overpasses, the awning of an abandoned petrol station. Some days the clouds have a greenish, bruised tinge and when the skies are like that the hail can come down without warning. An oval becomes a sea of white, birds are struck dead on the branch. Holes drill through windows like a straight drive down a fairway, divots as deep as your first knuckle appear on car bonnets. Then the wind picks up, then the rain. Turmoil, like being trapped inside a washing machine. The price to be paid for all those days of endless blue.”

I ended up liking this a lot. I can’t tell how much is because I recognise all the references to life and politics in Queensland in the 1980s and how much is because I was engaged with the story – which I was. I will admit that I also was taken to Schrafft’s by my grandmother, so that could have swayed me a little, too. :)

I also loved her debut novel. "Addition".

I hate to say there’s a great twist at the end, because absolutely everybody always says that, but . . .well, yes, there is.

Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.

The Fragments is a compelling novel, a literary mystery that will keep the reader guessing til the end.  Unusual, the writer has a strong sense of place and historical accuracy.

ACTUAL RATING 4.5 STARS

When I got this novel, I squealed, sighed at the amazing cover and then put it on the backburner because its release was 3 months away. Fast forward to yesterday and I finally picked it up (life happened).

I went in not expecting too much but was blown away but the amazing narrative and sweet romances included in this novel. Its a tale of love, loss and loyalty centred around Caddie in 1986 Brisbane and Rachel in 1930's America.

The rich scenery and enthralling narrative make this the perfect read for a lazy long weekend

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

Inga Karlson died in a fire in New York in the 1930s. Nearly fifty years later, Caddie Walker is waiting in line to see a Karlson exhibition featuring the famous fragments when she meets a charismatic older woman.

As with most of these split timeline stories, I was more interested in the older timeline.

2.75☆

Breathtakingly beautiful. I really enjoyed this dual narrative story. Part detective story, part love story.

If your favoured reading material is a novel with a good sprinkling of history and mystery, academic intrigue and a soupçon of romance, then feel at liberty to read Toni Jordan's latest offering - The Fragments.

Toni Jordan gives the reader some excellent characters, most of whom have appeal despite their flaws and of course, there are a few suitably nasty ones who are meant to be despised. 

Told in alternating chapters from between New York City in the 1930's and 1980's Brisbane, Australia, the back and forth worked in retaining my interest and attention and even though parts of the novel were quite slow-moving, I was never bored but instead, was lured ever deeper into this wonderful tale.

Nothing was what it seemed, and Toni Jordan released her clues and information in such a way that I did not want to put down my kindle and wait for the next chapter.

The writing really flowed and there were wonderfully crafted descriptions of the places as well as the people. What stood out for me was the Australian setting and the portrayal of the academic life with its niggling jealousies, providing a rich arena for intrigue and backstabbing. What worked less well was the motive for the murder.

Overall, I'd say that The Fragments is a little gem and a book that I'm so pleased to have read!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Text Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Sometimes I pick up a book with no preconceived notions about it.  I have no idea what to expect and I don’t anticipate anything out of the ordinary.  And then, I am pleasantly and thoroughly surprised.  The Fragments by Toni Jordan is a perfect example.  It is unexpected gem of a book that is a story about the love of books and literature, redemption, and hope.  

Inga Karlson wrote a popular novel in the 1930s but, before she could publish her second book, she tragically lost her life in a mysterious fire.   The fire also destroyed all copies of her yet-to-be-released novel and only a few fragments of the pages were found in the debris.  In 1986, Caddie Walker is a young woman who sells books for a living.  She was named after a character in the book Inga Karlson wrote and when an exhibition about Karlson comes to Brisbane, Caddie attends.  There she has a chance encounter with an old woman and that begins a chain of events that Caddie could never imagine.  

The story follows these two timelines and moves effortlessly between them.  As Caddie tries to solve the mystery of the fire that killed her beloved author, the reader is also introduced to Rachel and that troubling period of time between the two World Wars. 

The Fragments is well-written, with interesting and varied characters that seem to jump off the page.  Although some of Caddie’s decisions seem to be flawed and unexpected, the story ends well and is very satisfying.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

A wonderful book.  Beautifully evocative, both of 1980s Australia and Depression-era Pennsylvania and NYC. The characters all ring with truth and the writing itself is lyrical.  I highlighted more than a dozen passages, but this is the one I’ll share, since I think it incapsulates one of my favorite things - the personal and aspirational way a reader experiences the characters in a really well written story: “She reads Calico Bush and knows that Maggie’s burden is far worse than her own, she reads The Good Earth and hopes for the constancy and good sense of O-Lan.”  I wish I had Caddie’s passion and determination and Rachel’s strength. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It is a book for people who love books and stories and words.

When a revered author and her manuscript perish in a fire, the world is shocked.  Through the ash, only fragments of Inga Karlson's work remain.  Those pieces, literally called "The Fragments" end up on display years later in Brisbane, Australia as part of a travelling exhibition.  

Caddie, who was named after a character in Inga's first novel, is ecstatic to see The Fragments in person, and on her way out of the exhibition bumps into someone who sparks her interest in finding out what really happened to Inga.  

 The Fragments has two timelines, one follows Caddie as she attempts to dig into the past, and the other that follows Rachel Lehrer. Rachel's timeline is set in the 1920's and follows her life. 

Overall, I devoured this novel.  I read it in only a few days and was able to get into the flow of it quickly.  I had no problems with Rachel and her side of things.  However, Caddie was where I got into some issues. Towards the end, no spoilers, Caddie really started to grate on my nerves with her actions.  I felt that she took some rather roundabout and ,frankly, poor choices that didn't make sense.  Besides that, I did guess the ending, but I still enjoyed it.

Spanning two different time periods this book follows the story of Inga Karlson, a prolific author in the 1930s who was mysteriously killed in a fire.  Decades later in 1989, Caddie, named after a character in Inga's novel, finds out there may have been more to the fire that was thought.
I really, really enjoyed this book.  I was especially gripped by 40% of the way in and couldn't wait to find out what happened.  Caddie could have been a stronger character but other than that it was a superb book.  Easy to read, gripping, and with an interesting ending.

This is one of those reviews I had to sit on for awhile because I just had to let my thoughts about the book whirl until they settled. I've finally decided on 4 stars.

Caddie Walker, who works in a book store, is a huge fan of iconic, controversial, Pulitzer Prize winner Inga Karlson who published her first and only book All Has An End in 1935. Caddie is waiting in a long line to view a traveling exhibit on Karlson's life. The exhibit contains the fragments of only 7 pages of what was to have been her second novel. The finished book and all copies of it was lost, along with the lives of Karlson and her editor in a warehouse fire shortly before her second book was to be published. The fire was ruled arson; the case was never solved. Karlson was 28 when she died, the same age Caddie is now. 

After leaving the exhibit, the old woman who had stood before Caddie in line, strikes up a conversation with her, asking which of the fragments contained the phrase Caddie liked best. After Caddie recites her favorite fragment, the woman says that's her favorite one as well, reciting it back with an extra phrase at the end. She then hops into a taxi she had called and disappeared. Caddie is immediately intriqued - who was this woman, and how could she know additional words that are not part of the fragment in the exhibit? Little did she realize that her inquiries would not only lead her to the woman, but also enable her to solve one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the 20th century!

The book is advanced by alternating between the voice telling what is occurring in Brisbane, Australia in 1986 with Caddie's efforts to solve the mystery, and the voice describing the happenings in New York in the late 1920's and 1930's. It is beautifully written and quite an intriguing tale as it turns out! The only thing I had an issue with was believing all that Cady was willing to do to solve the mystery. But then I should realize as a book lover myself, we are capable of just about anything!

My many thanks to NetGalley and to Text Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The book will be available to the general public on September 20, 2019